1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the management of electrical and/or communication cables associated with an article of furniture, such as, for example, an article of office furniture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Articles of office furniture, such as tables, are often used in environments which require electrical outlets and/or communication outlets near a work surface, such that a user may plug an electrical cord into the electrical outlet to power a device positioned on or proximate the article of furniture, or may plug a communication cable into the communication outlet to provide data service to a device positioned on or proximate the article of furniture. Some municipalities allow articles of furniture to include electrical outlets having power supplied thereto via extension cords plugged into existing outlets in a building or other structure in which the article of furniture is positioned. Other municipalities do not permit such extension cords and instead require that power supplies to the electrical outlets be fully contained and not connected via extension cords.
Referring to an exemplary article of furniture shown in FIG. 1, table 20 includes channel 26 mounted beneath its work surface. As shown in FIG. 2, a typical commercially available electrical assembly includes an electrical harness 28 that may be positioned within channel 26 beneath the work surface of table 20. Electrical systems including electrical harness 28 are commercially available from many commercial sources, such as Dekko Engineering, a Group Dekko Company, of Kendallville, Ind.; Byrne Electrical Specialists of Rockford, Mich.; and Union Electric. Electrical harness 28 is connected to a power supply via power supply cable 22. Electrical harness 28 may include connectors 23 on each end of buss bar 27. Electrical outlet modules 29 are connected directly to connectors 23 of buss bar 27 and are thereby positioned in fixed locations relative to connectors 23 and buss bar 27. Electrical jumper cable 24 may engage connector 23 on one end of buss bar 27 and connect electrical harness 28 to electrical components associated with an adjacent table (not shown).
Thus, each electrical outlet module 29 is fixedly attached to buss bar 27 such that outlet module 29 cannot move or be re-positioned relative to channel 26. Openings 25 are provided in sidewalls 21 of channel 26 to provide access to electrical outlet modules 29. Buss bar 27 defines a fixed length L, shown in FIG. 2, which cannot be varied, thereby forcing outlet modules 29 at each end of buss bar 27 to be positioned at a fixed distance from one another dependent on length L. Openings 25 in channel 26 must be positioned in registry with outlet modules 29, and, thus, must be spaced a distance approximately equal to length L such that a user may access outlet modules 29.
Thus, a manufacturer of an article of furniture such as table 20, including channel 26, must design channel 26 in view of length L of buss bar 27. The fixed length of buss bar 27 forces the manufacturer to inventory a plurality of buss bars 27 of varying lengths, as well as a plurality of channels 26 having openings 25 of varying configurations, in order to manufacture tables 20 and/or other articles of furniture of varying size and/or having outlet modules 29 positioned at varying locations.
What is needed is an article of furniture with an electrical system that is an improvement over the foregoing.